Ahoy there - OC takes a cruise!!!

[OurCreature]

Here's a pic of the Crestuma lock in action.

And here's a boat emerging from the lock - as you can see, there isn't much clearance.

[merry]

I wouldn't have wanted to do eight hours in a coach, either! good decision, OC

Off I went and remarked cheerfully to one of the waiters that I bet he was glad we were on our way. He looked at me with a doleful expression and told me that we had to return to Oporto. So I ate my breakfast, wondering what Diogo was going to come up with today.

- I did laugh at the doleful expression, but my! poor old Diogo! he certainly earned his money on this trip didn't he.

There are public conveniences nearby so we all used those, and an advantage of being a man on the cruise quickly emerged; we were outnumbered 10 to 1 by the ladies so we didn't have to queue for our conveniences!

- it's always like that! very unfair

she said that she had been kept awake by the person above her using the loo a lot during the night and flushing it, and it was incredibly noisy.

this would have been me! I am always up and down for the loo in the night! I would have found that very funny too - to be PROVEN the 'culprit;' via the deck plan

The old lady Chris resumed her escape attempts,

- she sounds great fun, I'm enjoying Chris a lot. My mother was once, in Spain, prevailed upon by our harassed tour guide (possibly Diogo's granny) to take charge of a lady called Renaté during a day trip to Ronda and the Alhambra. We soon found out that this meant chasing after an incredibly nippy Renate every time she broke ranks to head for a whisky shop. We obviously failed in our mission, because in the coach on the way bag, Renaté opened her handbag and triumphantly produced a litre of spiritous plonk, which she proceeded to neck, happily singing. Her husband was not too pleased when she returned ten sheets to the wind, but my mother retorted she hadn't asked for the responsibility of keeping a very determined Renate on the straight and narrow on what was supposed to be a carefree trip out!

However, Diogo managed to do the quiz which our group won by a couple of points

- I bet you did they didn't know how lucky they were to get you on the team

Diogo had a lot on his plate, didn't he! Organising quizzes now!

The Portuguese love their blue-tiled panoramas, they are called 'azulejos', which you probably said. A popular souvenir, you can buy them in a variety of designs to use as a hot-pan stand, or even buy a whole range to put around your bath.

[OurCreature]

Diogo was great. He's a freelance and not an employee of the travel company. He really worked his socks off for us, and our group told him several times just how much we appreciated his efforts, and the kindness of the boat crew (of which there were 40), several times after things started to go wrong.

[Furby]

Was the original plan to stay on the boat and just have short trips where it stopped and that's replaced by day long coach trips. I wouldn't like that either. Trains are better or were before trains became sardine like.

Poor diogo making a plan and then another plan it's quite hard work for him isnt it. I bet he is glad other cruises are cancelled and doesn't have to do this all over again.

[OurCreature]

Was the original plan to stay on the boat and just have short trips where it stopped

Correct, Furby. However, even from Oporto we were never on the coach for much more than 1 hour, but after that the coach seat was starting to get uncomfortable for me. I have a tender spot at the base of my spine, and I didn't want to risk it rubbing into a sore which would take a couple of weeks to recover and go away. We all had to wear seatbelts in the coach and if the coach braked suddenly it was easy to slide forward in the seat and then you had to get comfy again.

The main point of the cruise part of the boat was to go through the locks and along stretches of the Douro that are terraced by vineyards and away from the good roads, and therefore not so easy to get to by coach. But we were always going to be taken out on excursions and it would have been 2 hours in the coach if we had been going to Salamanca on the day trip instead of overnight from further away. I could have just about coped with 2 hours, but not longer.

[OurCreature]

Day 6 - Sunday April 7

This was a busy early morning for the people going to Salamanca, because their coaches set off at 08:00. Meanwhile, a morning excursion to the Mateus Palace gardens had been arranged for those of us who didn't go to Salamanca. I was fed up with riding on coaches so I stayed on the boat. Yorkshire Lass was also on the boat chilling out so we chilled out separately or together on the lower sun deck by the bar lounge, and sat together to chat over lunch and dinner. I can't remember what we had.

One thing I noticed is that Portuguese towns are an odd mix of the new, the lovingly restored/kept in good order and the tumbledown. You can see this on the Douro at Gaia/Oporto where there is some building work as evidenced by cranes putting up new buildings while just down the road there are old buildings that are literally falling down. There was some of that at Entre-os-Rios where we were moored. You can see on the slope a group of houses, and the ones either end look newish and in reasonable condition. Inbetween there are what seem to be older buildings, including one with some sort of balcony with a red blanket or carpet hung out over the balcony.

When I looked at it when we were moored there that roof looked all bendy and wavy as if the roof joists were on their last legs and the roof tiles looked ancient and in need of replacement, and I wondered if anybody lived there. My question was answered when a lady appeared on it to hang out her washing. The pic was taken 8 years ago and that roof looks much better in the pic than it does now.

One thing I should say is that chef Carlos is very good with fish dishes. During the course of the cruise I had salmon, sea bream, brill and another called tilapia of which there seem to be lots of sub species. They were all very good indeed; in fact the only fish I would describe as merely adequate was the cuttlefish on the first night.

After a very uneventful day and a few drinks after dinner I went to bed.

[Furby]

Are there any puddings after all that fish. I looked up what cuttle fish was and it's like octopus so no wonder merely adequate. I don't really like any fish except red tinned salmon and fish fingers and fish cakes so I would be no good on a fish cruise.

If oc goes back will he book different dates having checked weather patterns for rainfall. They might not allow single travellers on the less rainy weeks so could be not possible. If it rains too much next time would be get a silver medal as well as another free cruise.

[OurCreature]

The solo traveller cruises are few and far between, Furby, and it looks as if all the Douro ones next year are in March. So I am hoping that next year the river behaves itself and all the sailings happen on time. And yes, there are puds after all the fish, which I had on separate evenings at dinner. Sometimes the fish dish was before a meat dish and other times the fish dish was the main dish.

Weatherwise, it was warm enough and no excursion was spoiled by rain; and when it did rain hard I was on the boat. However, I shall buy a waterproof lightweight jacket in good time before next year's cruise.

I assume that if the same disruption happened next year I would be eligible for any compensation on offer. I'll probably be in a minority of one as regards folk from this year's cruise being on the same one next year, and I don't think they could legally discriminate against me on the compensation front. However, I hope there is no need for that at all; in fact I think I am damn lucky to be getting same again in the best cabin next time for only £435!

Err.....yes.........I've decided to try again as mentioned in the April chat thread and my booking for 2025 is confirmed. Out on 27/3/25 and home again on 3/4/25.

[OurCreature]

Day 7 - Monday April 8

On this morning we should have been returning to Oporto, but we were at Entre-os-Rios waiting for the Salamanca people to return from what turned out to be a very good trip for them; overnight in a 5 star hotel with a first-rate dinner, flamenco show with dinner, huge rooms with inlaid marble everywhere, and fine weather for wandering around the city. If something similar happens next year I shall brave the coach and go to Salamanca as I'm not giving this cruise a third try in 2026. We didn't go anywhere - it was chill out time on the boat and that morning it was raining anyway so nobody was up on the sun deck.

The Salamanca people arrived at around 13:00 and so came into lunch slightly late but that didn't matter, there was plenty for everybody. The boat set off as soon as they arrived, so we were on our way back to Oporto. We were supposed to be doing the city tour of Oporto that afternoon, but as we had done it on our first day that didn't matter. The main excitement was arriving at Crestuma lock to make our descent, and here's a pic of what it looks like from the air.

I haven't been able to find a decent pic of what it looks like from the dammed lake, so I hope this video will compensate for that.

Nothing of note happened that afternoon, and in the evening we had what was touted as the Chef's Dinner. I had evil visons of us being served up a plate each of Heinz sausage and baked beans out of a tin and, when we complained, Chef Carlos appearing and saying the Portuguese equivalent of 'Woor! It's what I'm having for my dinner! Don't you like it?' However, he did us proud with a 6 course spread including a fish dish and - just to prove he knew how to cook it - a really nice piece of port tenderloin. We ate really well that evening, and I had my usual miraculous glass of wine which I handled with restraint as I had to be up at 04:30 for a 05:00 breakfast and then off to the airport. So that night I said farewell to my shipboard friends and went to bed.

Day 8 - Tuesday April 9

Coming home day. Everything went without a hitch. It was interesting at the airport; I was in a queue of 2 for the premium check-in while the others were in what developed into quite a long queue for their check-in. Would-be escapee Chris was causing the hold-up; she was looking all over the place for her documents at the actual check-in and not finding them. I checked in quickly and included my carry-on bag in the check-in as it wouldn't be a catastrophe if anything happened to it on the way home. Then I sought the fast track security channel and, having cleared that, went off to the premium lounge just to relax in a comfy chair in a bit of space. In fact Oporto Airport doesn't seem all that crowded at that time of morning, and I found a seat on the lounge balcony overlooking the main sitting area before you head off to the gates. I saw a few of my shipmates wandering up and down, and told two of them I'd seen them. Where were you? they enquired. Up on the premium lounge balcony in a comfy armchair I replied. Meanwhile escapee Chris had had some good luck; at check-in they must have decided she was a vulnerable passenger who needed help, and they pushed her in a wheelchair to the head of the queue so she was first on the plane. I'm sure she didn't really need the wheelchair because I saw her managing OK at Gatwick before I knew she was one of the party for the cruise; but at least it prevented her from wandering off to the wrong gate.

At Gatwick the plane arrived early so Fab wasn't there to meet me. It wasn't long before he was there and he took me home without mishap.

And that was the end of my Portuguese cruise. As the Terminator said - I'll be back!

[Furby]

So nothing really went wrong with cruise in the sense of Poseidon adventure it was jusg that it couldn't sail due to too much water in river. What a swizz story I was looking forward to some dreadful disasters. I expected at least one person falling overboard.

Heinz beans and sausages are a nice dinner you can get vegan ones now. Very dear over 2 pounds a tin these days. Thinking back to cut up sausages on the cruise that might be to save waste. If people have to take whole sausages people whose eyes are bigger than their stomachs will take 2 or more and leave half finished sausages. With pieces this is less likely and fewer sausages needed.

[OurCreature]

Furby grumbled

So nothing really went wrong with cruise in the sense of Poseidon adventure it was just that it couldn't sail due to too much water in river. What a swizz story I was looking forward to some dreadful disasters. I expected at least one person falling overboard.

In my defence, it was Merry who overlooked my slight tendency to exaggerate when I jest, when she described it as OC's Awful Holiday. Being mischievous I failed to correct her. Clearly my slight tumble at the top of the sun deck stairs failed to compensate for the lack of somebody falling overboard.

However, on the way to the Casa da Quinta (the big property that belonged to Maria's family which she bought back after her family lost it in the 1912 revolution) a lady on the other coach was taken ill just before we arrived at the Casa, and both coaches waited in a layby until a taxi arrived to take her away for any treatment necessary. Another tour passenger and a guide went with her in the taxi. Fortunately, it was nothing dramatic (sorry, Furby! ) and she stayed on the boat when the rest of them went off to the Mateus Palace gardens and I had a chat with her. She was all right by then.

You're 100% correct about the excess water, Furby. For me it was a minor inconvenience and the only big loss for me was the day trip to Salamanca which I hope to remedy next year, and missing out on the really nice Douro Valley terraces and two more big locks after Entre-os-Rios. Also we never went to the fortified village which I was quite looking forward to, but that was impossible unless we were up at the mooring which we should have used for the Salamanca trip. Overall I think the travel company compensation is extraordinarily generous if you put it towards another cruise, and pretty good even if you take the money.

If next year we cruisers have anything like the river conditions that we had this year with disruptions I shall prevail upon Merry to head it up 'OC's Mildly Inconvenienced Holiday' so as not to heighten expectations. I'll also try to keep the lunch and dinner menus so that she does not me again.

[eccles]

There seems to be a human tendency to view mishaps with horror but secretly think that we're glad that they didn't happen to us. Next time you take a tumble perhaps you could exaggerate things a little, maybe get a fake plaster cast. This will achieve two objectives; overt sympathy from Merry and gleeful horror from Furby. The rest of us will merely be happy it was nothing worse and encourage you to "get better soon".

Glad you had a good trip despite the minor setbacks. It all sounds like a pleasant way of eating and drinking mixed with a bit of tourism.

[OurCreature]

Eccs.

You're 100% correct with your one sentence summary about my holiday.

[eccles]

I added to my comment so it's a bit more than one sentence. Sorry I didn't see your reply OC.

[OurCreature]

for Eccs.

[merry]

I billed it as 'OC's awful Holiday' as that tends to get more views

I think Furby must be right about the cut-up sausages. I am one of those whose eyes are bigger than their tummy and would probably take three when I ran out of sausage steam after only two.

I had evil visons of us being served up a plate each of Heinz sausage and baked beans out of a tin and, when we complained, Chef Carlos appearing and saying the Portuguese equivalent of 'Woor! It's what I'm having for my dinner! Don't you like it?'

Like Furby, I'm not a great fish-lover, all white fish taste the same to me?! I do love 'seafood' though, lobster, crab, prawns, languoustines etc.

OC you wrote this holiday up wonderfully. A great travel-vlogue. I feel as if I knew your boatmates by the end of it, the wonderful Diogo (hope he got decent tips! or were tips included, as they are in some cruises?) Yorkshire Lass, and wandery Chris. I'm glad you liked the airport and the river and I'm already looking forward to you going back.

Talking of azulejos, as we were a while back, this lovely fresco was on the poolside wall of a villa we rented one year in Albufeira

[OurCreature]

Tips were not included in the cost, but they put out an envelope on our last day on the boat in each cabin with a suggestion that we put in €12 per day. I thought the crew were wonderful so I put in €100. Diogo had a separate tip box and he got what change I had left, just over €4 which sounds a bit mean but wasn't. There are 40 crew including reception, kitchen, waiters and the folk who actually drive the boat so my tip worked out at €2.50 each. So on a per head basis Diogo did better from me.

But that was not all he got. 3 of our little group of 5 had a bottle of champagne because of the cabins we were occupying, plus the wine we won at the quiz. So I suggested that I give Diogo my bottle of champagne because Nicky (Wigan lady) had wheedled out of him that he was going on paternity leave very soon and he and his partner were expecting a baby girl in the next few weeks. They thought that an excellent idea, so I gave my bottle privately to Diogo when hardly anybody was around so that he and his family could celebrate the new arrival.

[merry]

That all worked out perfectly then

Here's to next time!